Shop Carefully

There are two things that you should not do if you see me in a supermarket.

The first thing is get behind me in a checkout line. You can be most certain that the lady just before me is going to try to pay by check - filling it out with a pen that will only work if shaken after every couple of letters. It will probably dry up for good right there and send the lady fumbling back into her overly cluttered purse for another chronically dried up pen.

The second thing you should never do is take the shopping cart I have just returned to the store's cart corral. If you do you can expect to end up with either a cart whose wheels are so misaligned that off duty police officers will stop and ask how many drinks you have had as you struggle to shop in a straight line or you will end up with a cart whose wheels are perfectly aligned and equally ceased, thus giving you an aerobic workout that would leave even the best athlete breathless. In other words - don't follow me at a supermarket.

The world is full of people you shouldn't follow. Whether it is the gossip in the pew next to you, the office supply thief at work, or that special someone who wants . . .

There are two things that you should not do if you see me in a supermarket.

The first thing is get behind me in a checkout line. You can be most certain that the lady just before me is going to try to pay by check - filling it out with a pen that will only work if shaken after every couple of letters. It will probably dry up for good right there and send the lady fumbling back into her overly cluttered purse for another chronically dried up pen.

The second thing you should never do is take the shopping cart I have just returned to the store's cart corral. If you do you can expect to end up with either a cart whose wheels are so misaligned that off duty police officers will stop and ask how many drinks you have had as you struggle to shop in a straight line or you will end up with a cart whose wheels are perfectly aligned and equally ceased, thus giving you an aerobic workout that would leave even the best athlete breathless. In other words - don't follow me at a supermarket.

The world is full of people you shouldn't follow. Whether it is the gossip in the pew next to you, the office supply thief at work, or that special someone who wants to take your relationship to an inappropriate level, we all need to be on guard against getting behind people who are only going to lead us away from the commitment we made when first believed in Jesus. In a world where we must teach children not to take candy from strangers, many of us need to become more discerning in whom we take off after in the pursuit of personal happiness or even everyday life direction.

Choosing to follow the wrong person can result in our quickly being far off the path God has for our respective lives. It is important that we choose carefully and wisely from amongst the multitude of voices that siren us to follow them. We must closely compare their invitation to the invitation we received and accepted from God through Christ. Some may be tempted to take the seemingly safe and easy way out by becoming loners and following no one. But that is no option because God has leaders he wants to bring into our lives for our blessing.

No, the way to move forward in harmony with God's will and plan is the best way to shop in the same supermarket as me - be careful who you follow.

Pastor Tim Davis, Copyright 2005For permission to reuse or reprint,please e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.